Soul's Eye

Chapter 7: Breach

I wasn't sure how much time had passed since the door had closed.

I froze, staring at the floor. It could have been an hour or a minute; time seemed to slow down with each beat of my heart.

The room fell into a heavy silence, as heavy as lead. Some had fallen asleep; others sat with their backs to the wall, their eyes fixed on the floor and their past.

I could still hear the screams echoing in my head. They were loud, desperate and chilling.

But nobody had moved, not even me.

I clenched my fists as hard as I could, feeling my nails dig into my palms.

My breath was short and dozens of thoughts were racing through my head.

Why hadn't I done anything? Even if it had been pointless, why hadn't I at least tried to protect them?

They weren't the first to leave, and they wouldn't be the last.

This place existed before I arrived, and many people had been taken away even after I arrived, so why was I so affected?

The elf's eyes were locked on me — that was the problem.

At that moment, I would have been able to help him.

"What if..." A shiver ran through me. It ran up my spine like a wave of frost when I had a thought.

I bent double. My forehead almost touched my knees.

'If he comes for me, no one will help me.'

"It's all my fault."

The words choked in my throat as if they were burning me.

My stomach ached and contracted. A dull nausea rose again and I felt as if I were suffocating.

I could hear a distant voice. My ears were ringing.

My skin felt hot and burning.

I slowly raised my head. The dim lights of the cage flickered above me. It was strange; it was almost as if the air itself was vibrating.

I could feel panic rising inside me. My body was unresponsive, my vision was blurred and the world seemed to be darkening.

I was pulled from my torpor by a sensation, and I realised that someone had grabbed my shoulders.

"𝕬𝖛𝖊𝖑?"

Was it Nil? Isen? The voice was muffled, as if coming through a wall of water, and sounded slightly panicked to me.

I had the impression that he was speaking, but I couldn't understand or hear anything.

Everything seemed blurred and out of sync.

Then everything faded away.

Everything had disappeared. Neither the walls nor the other children were visible. All I could see was a black void, cold yet strangely comforting, like a formless dream.

I had the impression of hearing a beat. It was slow, muffled, distant and repetitive. It was as if a drum was beating everywhere and nowhere at once.

I gasped inwardly. There was a whisper in my head, repeating itself, an inhuman, disembodied voice, the same as before...

"𝕬𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚..."

Images flooded into my mind. They were strange and disordered — yet I seemed to know them.

I saw the tower collapse, flames devour the sky, and my sister vanish in the smoke.

Then — above the ruins of Arhen — it appeared.

A massive golden eye, suspended in the void, staring down at me without blinking.

Its black sclera was threaded with golden veins that pulsed slowly, like the heartbeat of time itself.

The iris swirled like molten gold, radiating a blinding brilliance, and at its center...

A vertical slit — cold, reptilian, ancient.

I knew it wasn't just watching.

It saw me.

Not my body. Not even my mind.

Something deeper. Something I couldn't name — and couldn't hide.

"𝖂𝖍𝖔 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚?" The voice echoed in my mind like the roar of a beast. I could feel my body flinch as my mind seemed to be torn apart by the voice's terrifying authority.

I closed my eyes; my body was shaking so much that I couldn't stand upright. I collapsed, staring at the immense golden eye in the sky, and then it was gone.

"Abel!"

I felt fingers grab me and gently shake me.

I gasped. My head jerked upright. My neck cracked.

I was sweating.

Nil looked at me, worried.

"You've been standing there the whole time. I've called you three times."

It took me a moment to regain my composure. My throat was dry. My hands were shaking.

"I-I'm sorry," I stammered. I stammered, still feeling a little lost.

Lio, who was sitting a little way off, looked at me worriedly.

"That was so weird; it sounded like a dead person." He spoke gesticulating wildly, but Egnel silenced him with a blow to the head.

I looked down. It was quite embarrassing. I felt a little ashamed, but, above all, the fear and discomfort of the situation left me feeling uneasy, as if my body and soul were like disconnected.

Isen had quietly moved closer to me again and forced me to lie down.

"You must be in shock. Try to get some rest."

I nodded. But I knew I wouldn't be able to close my eyes. Eventually, when I had cleared my mind, I looked up and met Erine's gaze.

It was as if, as if she was probing my soul.

I turned my head and tried to regulate my breathing.

Isen and Nil had moved over and were chatting nearby, but I could still feel their gaze on me.

They had all realised that something strange had happened.

I ran a hand over my sweat-soaked forehead.

My heart was still racing.

No matter how hard I tried to calm down, I couldn't convince myself that it was nothing serious; that it was just another crisis or hallucination.

But deep down, I knew that wasn't true.

What I had seen, heard and felt did not feel like just another nightmare. It was as if something had resonated inside me, something I didn't understand.

"Feeling better?"

I gasped. I couldn't understand why they enjoyed sneaking up on me so much.

It was Erine.

Her voice was soft and calm — soothing to the point that it was a shame she didn't speak more often.

I pulled myself together quickly and gave her an insincere yes.

She nodded before sitting cross-legged opposite me.

Her black hair still covered part of her face, but I could make out the brilliance of her crystal-blue eyes, which seemed almost celestial.

"Are you sure? I feel like you're… drifting."

I blinked, unsure how to respond. Her words seemed… right, as if she was putting her finger on a feeling I didn't understand.

I quickly sat up to face her. 'What does that mean exactly?'

She looked at me for a moment, seemingly surprised by my reaction, before smiling at me. 'It's just that I have very good detection skills. I'm able to notice almost any movement around me, but just now...' Her face seemed to darken as she spoke. It surprised and worried me.

"You—I felt like you were evaporating."

"You see that?" I asked, more and more surprised, but she remained silent. However, I could feel a certain interest growing in me, both about my seizures and about her.

We chatted for a few minutes, then she graciously turned away and took her place with her back to the wall. Before ending our conversation, she simply added:

"Have a good rest and try to stay there."

I lay down again on the cold floor. My eyes stared at the ceiling.

Her words replayed in my head:

'Stay there...'

"Like it's so easy."